Chapter 13:

Revelation

The Botanical Research Club


"Okay, I'm done. Please hold the chains. I'm going to put the tools back in their box." Fulvius says with a gloomy expression. I see that he is tense.

"Fulvius, what's wrong?" I ask.

"You could have told me sooner that we needed access to water. Anyways, it doesn’t matter now. Let's find it," he murmurs.

We are strolling side by side with both of our hands occupied. He carries the chains, while I carry the mysterious box. Previously, the chains did not need to be carried because he brought them here a few days ago. We remain silent toward one another.

"Hey Hinata, what made you decide to participate in the ritual?"
He queries, breaking the silence.

“Curiosity I guess. I just can't quit wondering what might occur during this great ceremony," I react with a smile while hiding my true motivation.
"Ah, I see," Fulvius answers as he inadvertently soaks his trousers in a forest puddle.
"Oh, my goodness, you're so clumsy. However, it is a good thing there is water here," I exclaim.

"Now that we have located water, why don't we carry out the ritual here?" Fulvius asks. He clearly has had enough of walking.

"Impossible, we need a somewhat bigger pond. I am sure we will stumble upon an appropriate one soon," I try to reassure him.

"He is simply so unbelievable. He first attaches the chains into the wall, only to take them out later, and now he soaks himself in the puddle" Mitsuko laughs a little too loudly, but Emiko quickly silences her by placing her palm over her lips.

"Shh, Mitsuko, you don't want them to hear us. Correct?" Emiko murmurs.

"I'm curious as to what their relationship is like. They don't appear to be having much fun at all." Mitsuko continues, enjoying this conversation.
"Who knows, maybe Hinata and Fulvius' romance was wrecked by the rumours you instructed me to spread about him." Emiko shares her viewpoint.

"That is extremely likely. We're doing incredibly well." Mitsuko finds this quite entertaining.
"In any case, Mitsuko, what exactly has Hinata done to you? Why are you so against her?" Emiko wonders what the real truth is.

"Emiko, why are you bringing this up now? She has a snooty attitude and regularly declines to hang out with me, as I have already explained. She frequently ignores my texts as well." Mitsuko responds, a little irritated by the question.

"I'm sorry. I had no intention of irritating you. Every now and then, I ponder about this. Nevertheless, should we invite Hideki-kun?" Emiko inquires.

"You can do whatever you want. You are much closer to him than I am. He is just a guy I go to school with, but you have known him since you were a kid." Mitsuko mutters while shrugging her shoulders.

"Okay, I will phone him now, then. Also, I will tell him to bring a camera." Emiko presses the call button on her mobile phone.

The sky gradually transforms into its black counterpart. As a result, vivid orange merges with a soft lavender hue. Just ahead of us lies an irregularly formed pond. It is bordered by bushes and stones. Inside, there are a few frogs that are croaking surprisingly loudly. I decide to give Fulvius a warm hug after being moved by this lovely sight. In fact, I'm glad we found it.

After a while in a tight embrace, he asks me, "Are you prepared, Hinata? We'll start by securing the shackles to the ground around the pound."

I say, "I am ready," as I help him construct the chain barrier. We need an entire hour to build a robust cage for the creature we intend to bring into life.

I open the box and take this rosy blossom in both of my hands. I can't shake the weird feeling off. This beautiful, magnificent flower will soon be transformed into something dreadful. I put it in the exact middle of the chain link fence. It is now chained from all sides, and the chains are embedded deeply in the ground. They aren't pressing on it right now, but when the flower grows, the pressure will be just right.

Fulvius spreads the picnic blanket on the ground. He then takes our dinner cartons out. We will be eating rice and vegetables.

"I am starving after all the work I have done. Are you hungry, Hinata?" he inquires.
"Yes, I am hungry. Good, we will have energy for the ceremony now." I reply and we both start to eat from the cartons.

"Yeah, but I'm extremely exhausted. To refresh my energy, I need something more powerful," he remarks as he takes a bite, gazing me in the eyes.
"What do you have in mind?" I enquire in an effort to figure it out.
"Easy, I will show you when we finish eating," he declares.

After we've finished eating, he suggests we lie down on the blanket and gaze up at the now-starry skies. He has my whole forgiveness at this time, and I am not even angry with him. I'm currently relishing this wonderful moment and I'm not letting my doubts interfere with it. Then, in order to face each other, we lean to the side. For a while we don't exchange any words.

"Is there something bothering you in our relationship, Hinata? I don't want to keep any secrets from each other," he states.

I am slightly unhappy that he asked me that now, but I respond, "Well there is something that is bothering me but I don't want to talk about it now. It is not a big deal."

"Tell me. I have the right to know," he urges me.

"Alright. I've heard that you have some family issues and that you deal with them by using girls." I say it reluctantly, feeling awful that it could break the mood.

"Me, using girls? Who told you this false nonsense, anyway? " He queries in surprise.
"Emiko-san did," I reply.

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